The present invention relates to a miter saw, and more particularly, to such a miter saw capable of performing angled cutting in which a side surface of the circular saw blade extends obliquely relative to a fence.
In a conventional table top circular saw, a workpiece such as a wood block is mounted on a base section, and the workpiece is cut by a circular saw unit vertically movable above the base section. If the workpiece is to be cut obliquely, a posture of the workpiece on the base section must be changed. Thus, workability may be lowered.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-254817 discloses a miter saw including a base section, a support section, and a circular saw unit. The base section includes a base and a turntable mounted on the base and rotatable about its axis. A workpiece is mounted on the turntable. The support section upwardly extends from the turntable and is laterally tiltable. The circular saw unit is positioned above the base section and is pivotally movably supported to the support section. The circular saw unit includes a circular saw blade and a motor for rotating the blade.
For the angled cutting, the turntable is angularly rotated about its axis to change the angle of the side surface of the circular saw blade relative to a fence. In order to perform angled cutting at a desired angle, a scale engraved at one of the base and the turntable is used. However, the scale may be covered with cutting chips generated during cutting, thereby lowering visibility to the scale.
Further, inevitable error may be incurred in case of the manual rotation of the turntable to the desired position of the scale. For example, it would be extremely difficult to accurately set the rotational position of the turntable at the rate of 0.1 degree.
Furthermore, in order to ensure cutting stability for cutting a wood block having relatively large cross-sectional area, a size and weight of the miter saw must be increased. Accordingly, it would become more difficult to accurately set the turntable at a desired angle within a range of 1 degree or less. Thus, precise positioning of the turntable at the desired rotational angle position is time consuming and requires skill.